Just the Tip
by Uskius
Summary: A tale of sailing and shipwrecks and desire that races towards a titanic conclusion. ((Takes place around the time of the epilogue in the manga.))


"What did you say?"

"I said your son would probably be upset if you're late again," Shizune repeated to Naruto. She gave him a sympathetic smile. "I know how much you love Bolt, Naruto. Just for tonight, why don't you let me handle the paperwork?"

"I still remember what Granny Tsunade put you through, and I've told you a million times I won't do that," Naruto responded stubbornly. "I don't want to get in the habit of doing things like this."

"Well," Shizune began with a chuckle, "It's because this would be an exception instead of the norm that I'm offering it. Please, Naruto. I insist."

"Are you sure?" Asked Naruto. Shizune smiled and nodded, and Naruto got up from the desk chair, looking over his shoulder out at Konoha through the window for a moment. "Alright. I promise I'll make it up to you, okay?"

"Sure." They began their farewell handshake, bopping the tops and then bottoms of their fists together before tapping their knuckles, slapping the backs of their hands together and then their palms and gripping as if they were about to arm wrestle, then wiggling their fingers as they pulled their hands away. "Sparkles," Shizune said as she wiggled her fingers.

"Sparkles." Naruto smirked, and exited the office without a backwards glance.

O=========O

It was the following morning; the sky was clear and the breeze was a bit too chilly for Naruto's liking at the moment. He and Hinata were both hanging out on his head- that is, his head on the Hokage Monument.

"He hasn't slept like that since he was a baby," Hinata said.

"No, I remember when Bolt was a baby," Naruto said with a laugh. "He's never slept that soundly."

"It's such a shame I didn't get too much sleep," Said Hinata with a sideways look at Naruto. He wrapped his arm around her waist, and the two shared a brief kiss. Several moments passed in silence as the two sat close together, looking out over the city that had once been a rebuilding village. "...What made you decide to come by the birthday dinner in person?"

"It was Shizune's idea, actually. I was trying to get through my paperwork before I came over, and she pushed me into it."

Hinata smiled. "Sometimes I wonder where this village would be without her…"

"Now that I know exactly how much she does, I can tell you it definitely wouldn't be pretty," Naruto chuckled.

"We should invite her over for dinner sometime," Hinata suggested.

"How about tomorrow?" Hinata nodded, and Naruto gave her a shoulder hug. She put her arm around him, squeezing her husband for a moment before bringing her hand up his side, her fingernails ever-so-lightly scratching his neck before she wound her fingers into his hair.

"It's gotten long again…" Hinata said softly.

"What's gotten long again?"

"Your hair. It reminds me of when you were younger."

"So, you don't mind it being long and shaggy like this?" Asked Naruto.

"Just as long as you keep it shorter than it was that first year Kakashi was Hokage."

"I looked cool, okay?!" Hinata giggled, and gave Naruto a quick peck on the lips.

"Say, since neither of us is busy right now," Hinata said shyly, massaging Naruto's scalp with her fingertips, "Would you mind if we went back home and I tried giving you a hair cut?"

"B'whuh?"

"I cut Himawari and Bolt's all the time when they were younger, you know."

"Huh. Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to give it a try. Ready?" Hinata nods, and Naruto uses the Flying Thunder God Technique to take them back to their home. He's told no one he knows how to do the technique, and thanks to his infamous Shadow Clone Jutsu, has managed to keep it a secret that only he and Hinata know.

"I'll go get the clippers!" Hinata says excitedly after they appear in the living room of the apartment. Naruto kept his old room and bought the empty ones adjacent to it, so he and Hinata would have more space. Getting out a folding chair, Naruto sat down in it to wait. He was wondering how Hinata would cut his hair around his ears; over the years he had come to dislike having it too far over them, and a slight tingle went down his spine as he heard Hinata coming back. With a smile she put a towel around his shoulders, and quickly combed his hair. "Okay. Here we go…"

Starting from his forehead back, Hinata steadily moves the clippers through Naruto's hair. Naruto's breath starts to come faster as the strokes near the back of his head, and as Hinata changed the attachments on the clippers. There are short passes that even up the growth on the back of his neck, and then with another change of attachments, Hinata started trimming around his ears. The buzz creeps down his neck and to his chest, where it grows and stays for a moment until Hinata starts on the other side. It takes all of his ninja training to not let himself go, and Naruto shifts slightly as the buzz and warmth spread down from his chest.

The moment ends when Hinata changes attachments again, now trimming and getting the hair on the sides of Naruto's head even with the rest. With a critical eye, Hinata walks around Naruto, making a few quick passes at his hair with the clippers until she is satisfied.

"There. Let me get the mirror…" Picking up the hand mirror from the table, Hinata holds it in front of Naruto so he can see himself. "Do you like it?"

"Yes…" Naruto swallows, and then replies louder. "Yeah Hinata, it's great. Thanks."

"Really?"

"Uh-huh," Naruto says with more conviction. His hair is now in a short and practical cut, not like his beloved 'do during the early years of Kakashi's tenure as Hokage, but decent enough. Removing the towel from around his shoulders, Naruto stands up. "I'm going to head out for a while, I'll be back for lunch."

"Alright. Goodbye, honey." Calmly walking out of the house, Naruto flashes back up to the Hokage monument once he leaves, and lets himself breathe. The feeling from the haircut shudders down his spine, and he lets out a small moan. As his breath calms, he remembers he should stop by his office, and thinks of Shizune.

 _I did say I'd make it up to her,_ He thinks as he jumps and runs to the Academy. He goes over the roof and walks down the wall to his office, using the Lockpicking Jutsu to get the window open.

"Oh, Naruto. I was worried for a moment when I heard someone walking on the wall."

"Sorry, Shizune. Didn't mean to scare you," Naruto apologizes. He walks around to the front of his desk, and leans down on his elbows to look at Shizune. "So. To be perfectly honest I'm a little short on ideas, so is there any food or thingumabob you've been wanting for a while?"

"No," Said Shizune with a smile, checking out Naruto's haircut for a second. "After I finished all the paperwork yesterday, though, I did have an idea for something…"

"What?"

"To give you a check-up."

"What?"

"For about the last decade you've only been in hospitals for the birth of your children, and your last official physical was just before Kakashi retired, to make sure you were 'fit'."

"Um, I'm pretty sure I'm in good shape, Shizune. No check-up needed," Naruto said with a dismissive wave of his hand. Shizune chuckled, and then began to laugh. "Hey! What's so funny?"

"It's just like when you were a kid."

"Oh yeah?! Well, I'm not a kdjvs uh, urgh- fine. I'll do it, okay?" Shizune grinned, then looked down the the papers on the desk, and straightened them out.

"Why don't we head down to the nurse's office in here to do it?" Proposed Shizune.

"Like, now?"

"Sure. Now sounds good to me." Naruto shrugged, and Shizune stood and led the way to the nurse's office. With the ninja academy's morning classes underway, the halls were empty, but faintly echoed with activity from the classrooms.

"Hey, Shizune. I was talking with Hinata earlier this morning, and we'd like you to come over for dinner sometime soon. Would tomorrow be a good day?"

Oh, thank you. And yes, tomorrow would be fine. An old spinster like me doesn't have much to do outside of work anyways," Shizune joked.

"Aw come on, except for your crow's feet you don't look all that much older than I do." Shizune smiled, and glanced at Naruto's ear for a moment. The walk continued in silence until Naruto spoke up again as they neared the nurse's office. "This shouldn't take too long, should it?"

"No, just a few minutes, at the most." Shizune looked ahead and read the sign on the door: " _Out on the practice field to help with sparring. Be back soon."_ She pushed open the door, finding the lights had been left on. "Go ahead and pick a table." Naruto picks one away from the door, on the other side of one of the partially drawn "room" curtains. Shizune swiftly scans the box on the wall containing the equipment, and pulls out the stethoscope. She puts it on and holds it against Naruto's ribs, checking his heartbeat. "Breathe in.. okay, now breathe out… good."

Next was Naruto's heart rate and blood pressure; they were both normal. His reflexes were excellent. His throat and tonsils were healthy, and Shizune had to smile at the face he made after she removed the tongue depressor. His eyes were healthy, and Shizune noticed how they immediately snapped onto the otoscope once she brought it out. "You're not going to stick that whole thing in my ear, are you?"

"No, just the tip," Shizune said with a chuckle. She leaned in close, and right away, before even using the otoscope, she could see there would be a problem. "Uh, Naruto, I hate to tell you but your ears are incredibly dirty. There's hair and wax all over them."

"Oh, uh, yeah. I kinda went home in a hurry after I got my hair cut." Maybe Shizune wouldn't have noticed it any other day, but today she sees a very faint tremble in the fabric of Naruto's shirt.

"Well, I'm going to have to clean them out if I want to be able to see anything in there." Said Shizune as she got out a few cotton swabs. "Hold still and don't move…" Shizune whispered as she leaned in. She first started on the outside of his ear with gentle strokes and twists, trying to get all the hair off that she could. She heard him breathing softly at a steady rate; not a natural one, but controlled and forced. With all the hair gone, Shizune began swabbing the outer area firmly, pressing and twisting around the ridges. She offhandedly noted his ears were now a little red as she very gently directed the swab towards the canal and began to twist and turn it against the walls of the canal. Naruto let out a breath that was almost a hiss. "Are you okay?"

"I… um…" Naruto simply nodded, and being a highly trained kunoichi, Shizune now recognized what was going on. Moving to his other side, Shizune leaned in close, until she was only a couple inches away from Naruto's ear. She let a warm and feather-light breath escape her lips, and started swabbing the hair away.

Naruto wasn't prepared for this, not so soon after the haircut. What's more, Shizune seemed to _know_ , and be giving special attention to his ears, like no one else had before. For a long time, Naruto wasn't sure if he was just imagining things like what he was feeling now, but there was no more denying it. He finally let go as Shizune swabbed his ear canal again, his jaw trembling for a moment as a moan escaped his lips and he felt the release. He felt Shizune's breath warm and soft on his ear, and a second later she stopped swabbing. Their noses were a hair's breadth away, and as they looked into each other's eyes, Naruto felt a connection form between them.

Shizune closed her eyes, and picked up the otoscope. Quickly, Naruto's ears were inspected, and the otoscope was put away. "Well. Now your ears are remarkably clean, and it seems they are very healthy," Shizune said in a clinical manner, even though she was fairly certain she was at least blushing. _Thank goodness my kimono's fabric isn't thin,_ she thought to herself. "Alright! You don't have anything to worry about Naruto, everything's looking just fine."

"Uh er, um, great! Uhm…" Naruto gulped. "...Was this okay for you, or do you want something else to make up for doing my paperwork?" Asked Naruto, suddenly unable to meet Shizune's eyes.

"This and dinner at your house will be more than enough."

"Great. I'll see you later," Naruto said, standing and looking at the floor. He made sure to close his jacket, and exited the academy's nurse's office.

O===========O

Though his time around Shizune had passed without incident since the day before at the check-up, Naruto was still a little uneasy. He'd taken over tidying up the apartment and doing the cooking to try and take his mind away from off of it, but he still kept going back to the feeling of how the swab felt, and Shizune's breath in his ear.

As he added another dash of seasoning to the broth, there was a knock on the door. "I'll get it," Said Hinata, briskly walking forwards.

"Hello!"

"Hi!" Hinata pulled Shizune into a hug, and stood aside to welcome her in. The tip of Shizune's shoe hit the doorway, causing her to stumble. She fell down to one knee, her small purse knocking against the floor, a few cotton swabs spilling out. "Ah, I'm sorry. I should have caught you."

"No, it's okay." Naruto turned back to look, and he froze when he saw the swabs. Shizune's eyes met his briefly, but she looked back down and soon had all the spilled swabs in hand.

"The food smells wonderful," Said Shizune, walking towards the kitchen.

"It's just ramen," Hinata apologized. "I hope that's okay."

"It's fine, I haven't had ramen in a while. And since when did you cook, Naruto?"

"A real Hokage can make their own ramen!" He said playfully, with a lift of his chin. "And 'sides, I wanted to give Hinata a break, too." Taking a test sip of the broth, he determined it was just right, and turned off the burner. Hinata was setting the table, and Naruto turned towards Shizune, only to find her already looking at him. "Hey, what can I get you to drink? We have coffee milk, orange soda, Konoha Light, milk, and grape juice."

"I'll… have water."

"Alright, the best cup of water ever, coming right up!" Hinata gets Naruto a cup of grape juice and herself a Konoha Light. Naruto goes back over to the stove and gets the food, serving it out. He notices Shizune has her hair pulled back over her right ear with a clip as he serves her, but quickly sets the pots down on the table and gets seated

"Itadakimasu!"

Naruto gets worried that Shizune will make references to ears or swabs throughout the meal, but to his great relief, she doesn't. She gets on well with Hinata, who shares stories of Himawari and Bolt when they were babies. Naruto feels relaxed enough to start providing anecdotes of his own, including his favorite one about the time when Bolt found out what the Sexy Jutsu was.

And then, Shizune brings up that she'd always wanted a child. Naruto blinks; he'd forgotten that Shizune was insecure about her looks and age. She'd aged so gracefully he always thought she was just as old as when he'd first met her. As Hinata begins to talk about what it was like when she was pregnant with Bolt, Naruto has to look away, and picks the window. "It's gotten dark outside…"

"It what? Oh, it has," Hinata says, checking the window, and then the wall clock. "Weren't Bolt and Himawari supposed to be back for dinner?"

"Yeah."

Hinata sighs. "They may be ninja, but they're still my children…" She says to herself. "I'll go bring them back. Would you mind staying here with Shizune, Naruto?"

"Uh, no. That'll be okay with me." Hinata activated her Byakugan, and frowns when she finds Bolt and Himawari.

"I'll be back in a little while…" With heavy footsteps, Hinata leaves the kitchen, and the front door could be heard closing with perhaps a bit more force than necessary.

Naruto looks back over at Shizune, his eyes lingering on her exposed ear for a moment. "Shizune… we… need to talk."

"About what?" Shizune asks, holding Naruto's gaze as she takes a sip of water.

"About the check-up yesterday, when… you cleaned my ears…"

"I've been thinking about it too," Shizune calmly replies, taking another drink of water. "I've never seen ears that dirty and waxed up-"

"That's not what I meant. It was… _different._ I could tell you noticed it, too."

"Of course I did," Said Shizune, her expression changing that to one of pained longing. "You… have always been special to me, Naruto. And, I wanted to give you something special, so when I noticed what was happening…"

"You don't think it's weird, do you? For years and years I ignored it, but with you, I couldn't."

"I don't think it's weird…" Shizune answered quietly.

"Are- are your ears…?" Shizune nodded, and took her purse from off the back of the chair, and set it on the table. Naruto walked over and Shizune put a cotton swab in his hands, looking deeply into his eyes.

"Swab me. _Now._ "

Naruto's fingertips whisper across Shizune's cheek and wind themselves into her hair, Naruto leaning in close as he begins to hesitantly swab the outside of Shizune's ear. The light contact sends a tingling charge down to her neck and back, and her eyes flutter shut. "How… how do you want it…?"

"Keep working the outside, a little firmer…" Naruto did so, and he took in the scent of Shizune and her hair while he was swabbing. It wasn't of shampoo or body wash, but of pure and unadulterated _woman,_ a primal and intoxicating smell. As he continued to swab the outside of her ear, Naruto felt Shizune's head relax into his hand.

"Your ears are so beautiful, Shizune…"

Shizune's witty response came out as a moan, and she swallowed before collecting herself long enough to speak. "Work a little more towards the canal, now…" She said, biting her lip. She had been close to the edge during the entire meal. It felt as if her pulse swirled within her in time with Naruto's swabbing. She began to feel the tell-tale persistent tingle at the base of her neck; her toes began to wiggle and curl. When Naruto switched into a higher-speed swirl around the outside of her ear canal she couldn't hold it in anymore and let out a sharp cry, biting her lip to stifle her groans as the tingle forced her back to arch and knees to rub against each other. Her heel had to stomp against the floor for a moment as she let out a low moan. Shizune turned to gaze into Naruto's eyes, her cheeks flushed with pleasure, breathing fast and deep as if a great weight had just been lifted off of her chest.

"How about your other ea-"

"I DON'T CARE IF IT ISN'T FAIR I CAN FIND YOU WITH MY BYAKUGAN!" Naruto heard Hinata yell from outside the front door. Before Shizune could even blink he was back in his chair helping himself to another bowl of ramen, and she swiftly hung her purse back where it had been on her chair. "STRAIGHT TO YOUR ROOMS." Hinata demanded as the front door banged open. Now that the moment with Shizune was over, Naruto was wondering what had happened on the walk back- he'd _never_ heard Hinata this angry.

"Is everything okay, Hinata?" Asked Naruto.

"Bolt... Bolt and Hima-" Hinata abruptly shook her head and began viciously consuming her ramen- being angry made her hungry. Naruto looked at Shizune and shrugged, and took another bite of his ramen.

O============O

Naruto had slept on the couch to give Hinata some space. Between the tension after Bolt and Himawari got home and the moment with Shizune he needed a distraction, and came to the office early to get some paperwork done. Shizune had arrived at the office not long after, and he wordlessly handed a stack of assignments off to her, not even looking up.

The morning had passed in the usual manner: handing out mission assignments, getting small bits of paperwork done, and trying to stick "kick me" notes on people without them noticing as the other work was done. All in all, it was a distractingly normal day.

That vanished in an instant at lunchtime. "I was going to stay in for lunch," Shizune said with a suggestive glance at Naruto's ear.

"Do you want me to bring you something?"

"No, I already have what I wanted. If it's okay with you, I wanted it on the desk."

"Yeah, sure. Hold on a second." Naruto had a seal in place for times such as this: with a quick hand seal, the contents of the desktop disappeared into it, stored away. "There ya go!" Naruto said with a smile. "I think I'll head out to Ramen-"

"Would you mind staying here with me?" Shizune interrupted. The look in her eyes reminded him of the moment they shared last night at dinner, and Naruto was about to make an excuse when Shizune got out her coin purse from her kimono and put it on the desk. "Maybe these will convince you…" Shizune opened the coin purse and dumped out the contents, the cotton swabs spilling over the desktop. Naruto's resistance broke when Shizune handed him a swab, and took one for herself. She pulled his chair out and straddled him, and posthaste began her ministrations with the swab.

Naruto was struggling to still his heartbeat; with Shizune leaning close against him, this was a whole-body experience. He finally managed to collect himself enough to start swabbing Shizune, lightly trailing his swab along her jaw before passionately swabbing along the outside of her ear. A gasp from Shizune gave him more confidence, and he pulled her tighter to him, his hand running along her hip before lifting under her thigh. "You wanted it on the desk, right?" Naruto hungrily asked in a low, husky voice. Once on the desk, Shizune laid back and pulled him down beside her, repositioning her arm so Naruto could swab her as they laid side by side.

Shizune felt herself loosening up inside as Naruto stared into her eyes, swabbing her ear with a puissant grace. She worked up the courage, daring to do something she'd never imagined before that came to her on the spur of the moment. She pinned Naruto beneath her, deeply inhaling the scent of his hair before slowly licking around the outside of his ear with just the tip of her tongue. She opened her mouth wider and put it on Naruto's ear, quickly flicking it with her tongue a few times, Naruto grunting before his breath sped up. "Oh, looks like your ear got wet somehow… I'll have to swab that dry." Shizune slid off to the side, her leg catching on Naruto, and began swabbing him again. She was only a few strokes in when Naruto stopped her.

"Shizune, the window…"

"O- oh! What if…?!"

"Shh, don't worry. I'll take us somewhere private real quick…" Naruto whispered into Shizune's ear, giving her a soft nip on her earlobe before using the Flying Thunder God Technique to transport them into his apartment. Swabbing like mad, they stumbled back into the kitchen, Shizune knocking into the table as Naruto pinned her back, swabbing her ear canal. She switched it around on him, reversing their positions for a second before taking Naruto's swab from him. An unquenchable flame of desire showed through Shizune's eyes, and she pulled out one of the chairs. Only a look was needed for Naruto to understand and sit down. Naruto felt Shizune's warm, moist breath on his ear before a swab touched it, the other ear being swabbed soon after.

Naruto became lost in the feeling of Shizune swabbing his ears in unison, her breath on the back of his neck. When she started swabbing in opposing directions he gave up control, a shiver running down his back as his legs relaxed and fell over the sides of the chair. Shizune handed him a swab back, and as she leaned over to bite the top of his ear between her lip and teeth, Naruto started delicately swabbing her ear again.

Hinata had been buying groceries; they were running low after Naruto had made ramen for dinner the day before. Upon opening the door she could hear Naruto with someone in the kitchen, and wondered who had had invited over for lunch. Quietly walking up, Hinata saw Shizune standing behind her husband, swabbing his ear as he did the same for her. At first glance it seemed innocent, but their breathing and body language and the state of Naruto's pants made it clear this was much more than simple friendly hygiene. _Shizune… now that I think of it, she's always been fond of Naruto, hasn't she? How, how did I not…?!_ As Hinata broke and inwardly sank, she wondered if the friendship she had seen between Naruto and Shizune was only just the tip of the iceberg…

O=============O

 **A/N:** Drunk Texts From Galactus was just too good to be true; I should have known my fanfic writing wouldn't end on a high note. -_-; Well, internet, here are some rules:

1: Officially, this story does not exist.

2: This story is to be taken as seriously as you want it to.

3: It is forbidden to link it or trick someone into reading it

4: None of these rules are contradictory, because officially _this story does not exist._


End file.
